My Yoga Online – Karen's New York Love Affair

Another divine yoga week

Since my last entry I’ve had another seven chances to expand, learn, and grow through my yoga practice. The Reach Out Challenge has been a gentle invitation into new beginnings on the mat, especially in combination with the one-month membership to My Yoga Online.

In the past week I’ve repeated the Short Hatha Flow class, done several of my own practices, and tried these new classes:

Developing Internal Balance – with Carolyn McManus

Grounding Breath Yoga Flow – with Kreg Weiss (co-founder of My Yoga Online). This is the most gentle class I have found yet. Nothing hurt when I did this class! And I really enjoyed the different breathing practices. Truly a class for slowing down the pace and getting in touch with deeper reality. I liked the way Kreg suggested the possibility of getting in touch with our true nature once the mind had quieted. I hope that many people benefit from this class.

Smart Yoga Tip: Pelvic Decompression – with Jesse Enright. A helpful mini-tutorial about the muscles in the pelvis and their role in holding everything in place as well as allowing opening in the hips.

Sea Side Yoga Flow – Michelle Trantina (co-founder of My Yoga Online). Is that Vancouver I see in the background?

I continue to make new discoveries in my regular yoga practice as a result of the learning and exploration in the classes with the other teachers. I find that when I do my own practice at my own pace, I have more time to explore and deepen into the pose than in most of the classes (except the restorative yoga classes, of course!). I have a new appreciation for the luxury of taking my time in a pose and seeing how far my muscles want to stretch. In the past I have gotten into the habit of just holding the pose for 6 breaths and then moving on, because that is my routine. But often my muscles want to stay a little longer. So doing the restorative classes really opened up the invitation to hang out in a pose. Plus needing to do a full 30 minutes, rather than rush through my practice to be done in 10-20 minutes, is a support to take more time in the poses.

Since Halloween fell during the past week, I thought you might like to see pictures of the dear little pumpkin I carved. This was the first time in years that I had a doorstep to put a pumpkin on. By 7:30 I’d had 42 little goblins to the door, and all the candy was gone. I hope you got lots of tricks and treats!

Three more days until the challenge is over. Thanks to my friends and family who have pledged 50 cents or a dollar or even two dollars a day for the 30-day Reach Out Challenge. The total pledges is now at $285 dollars! Almost at my goal of $300. If you haven’t done so and would like to sponsor me to raise money for Yoga Outreach, you can use the online donation link. Or phone me at 604.251.6337 or send an email to kyrempel [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!

The yoga torture continues

The good news is I have two more days of yoga to count towards those pledges. Friday I had a great 54-minute run and did my post-run yoga practice, and it was fantastic. But last night I came home quite late after a wonderful movie (Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris) and birthday dinner at Lift with my friend Tim. By the time I started my yoga it was after midnight in Vancouver. Rather than being transported to the intoxicating Parisian creative world of the 20s, I was transported into a bizarre world of twisted yoga discomfort!

I thought I’d continue my exploration of Melina Meza’s yin and restorative yoga classes on My Yoga Online, so I tried Yin Yoga for Spring. This class focuses on the meridian lines of inner and outer legs (for liver and gallbladder) and man, was it tough! I just couldn’t get comfortable in any of the poses, even with extra props like straps and cushions.

The first pose was a few moments of reclined butterfly, and that was fine. She always starts the class with something that feels good. But then we did happy baby pose, which I could not do at all. It was agony even with a strap. I am not a happy baby, evidently. This was followed by pigeon and a seated twist that were torturous, really getting into the inner thighs and hips, and fighting with the stored chocolate in there! I was hoping the final pose would be easier, but it was a butterfly forward bend. I have no idea how the student in the video gets her forearms down on the floor. Even seated on a cushion, I was more than a foot from the floor and suffering every minute. I finished the session with 3 minutes of savasana on the bolster, and felt strangely at peace. Was it because the torture was over, or because the torture and actually helped in some way? Being somewhat of a masochist, I suspect the latter.

Thanks to my friends and family who have pledged 50 cents or a dollar or even two dollars a day for the 30-day Reach Out Challenge. The total pledges is now at $285 dollars! Almost at my goal of $300. If you haven’t done so and would like to sponsor me to raise money for Yoga Outreach, you can use the online donation link. Or phone me at 604.251.6337 or send an email to kyrempel [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!

Vinyasa flowing into fall

Yesterday I continued the Reach Out Challenge with the Fall Seasonal Vinyasa Flow class on My Yoga Online, taught by Melina Meza. I am loving her classes. I’ve gotten used to the fact that the instructions are audio-recorded by the teacher, while a student is shown doing the poses in the video.

Melina is a brilliant teacher. She gives instructions for subtle positioning, and describes the impact the slight change in position has within the body. This helps the student focus inwards and increase their capacity to sense deeply. Her language fosters a sense of spiritual connection with yoga, the seasons, and the nature of reality.

The vinyasa flow class moves more quickly than the restorative classes she teaches. I was feeling quite hot by the end, which is why I didn’t dress very warmly for my run! But I could really feel the impact of the class on my running. The looseness in my body helped the energy flow freely and added to the effects of the cold to help me run very quickly.

Melina’s Fall Seasonal Vinyasa Flow class includes a great sivasana, with a wonderful sensing practice that “stores” attention in the bones of the body. I will definitely do this class again. But first I want to try all Melina’s other classes. However, today my practice is going to be an attempt to learn the 26 poses of the Bikram’s yoga flow, in preparation for the class with my workmates tomorrow night. Yikes!

Thanks to my friends and family who have pledged 50 cents or a dollar a day for the 30-day Reach Out Challenge. If you haven’t done so and would like to sponsor me to raise money for Yoga Outreach, you can use the online donation link. Or phone me at 604.251.6337 or send an email to kyrempel@gmail.com. Thanks!

Restore me and rest me

Last night I finished the work week with another restorative yoga class from My Yoga Online. I chose the Fall Yin Restorative Practice, by the same teacher as the Yin Yoga for Winter class (my Get Out of Jail Free card), Melina Meza.

I was so tired, this class seemed like the perfect choice. It was 22 minutes long, with a short series of poses, each held for 12 to 30 breaths:

supine butterfly
supine twist (two sides)
modified child’s pose with forearm stretch (two sides)
sphinx – this was much easier today, after having done it 5 days ago – a testament to how quickly the body adapts to new forms
virasana (kneeling pose)

Since the class was 8 minutes short of the full 30 minutes of the Reach Out Challenge, I followed it with 4 minutes of legs up the wall and 4 minutes of sivasana on the bolster. Then I did about another 10 minutes of Mysore practice (named after Mysore, India, a centre for yoga, the Mysore practice can be a free-flowing practice responding to the body’s spontaneous desire for movement).

According to the class description at My Yoga Online, “In the autumn, the Chinese Five Elements system promotes the lung and large intestine meridian lines to ensure that sufficient heat is drawn inward and downward, preventing imbalances that may result in the common cold, constipation, or insomnia. Yin yoga is a wonderful way to help restore your sense of balance after a long summer. In addition to calming the restless and anxious energy of fall, the longer held postures in this class will help prepare your mind, body, and spirit for meditation.”

Unfortunately, while the class did help me get to sleep, I woke up at 3:30 am feeling anxious and unable to get back to sleep! So I am not sure about the overall calming effects of the class. I did get up and meditate, so perhaps that part of the claim is true. However, it is possible that this new routine of practicing yoga daily, and doing poses that are not part of my regular practice, is opening up the energy channels (meridian lines) in my body. Perhaps I have so much energy running through the channels that I don’t need as much sleep. In any case, I love the Yin or Restorative yoga style, and look forward to trying the other classes with Melina Meza. She has several slightly longer vinyasa flow classes, as well as a Spring yin yoga class.

Everybody has to hatha

Last night I went for a run after work, so I began my 30-minute practice with some of the poses from my regular yoga routine. After I run I do a sequence of stretches aimed at keeping my legs relatively flexible and my knees strong. Some are actually physio stretches to which I add the ujjayi breath, and some are typical runners stretches like the calf stretch and ankle circles. Then I move into cat, mountain, standing forward bend, and so on.

I had been thinking of continuing on with my regular routine, but My Yoga Online was calling to me seductively. I wanted to continue the enchanting process of discovery. So I set up my laptop table in front of the mat, and searched for a Hatha (the root of all other yoga forms) yoga class that was about 22 minutes. Using the easy search boxes on the Video page, I found a 20-minute class called Short Hatha Flow, and let er rip.

This was another class with Martha Waal, of Get set for a good night’s sleep fame. I really liked the level of difficulty (beginner) and relaxed pace of the class. Again, I would have like to stay in each pose a little bit longer, but there were some nice spaces for checking in with the breath and overall sense of self throughout the practice. I started out with a stiff ache in my left sacroiliac joint (from the run), and the practice released the ache, with rag doll, and a lovely floor sequence that really got into the lower back with side twists and knees hugged to chest.

In contrast to this lovely way to loosen the SI joint, consider this “medical” approach, from the Sports Injury Clinic:

Treatment of SIJ Pain: What can you do to treat sacroiliac joint pain yourself?

Rest from any activities which cause pain. (That is, don’t run! Not!)
If the surrounding muscles have tightened up, use a warm-pack to help them relax. (Nice.)
Don’t heat if an inflammatory condition is suspected.
Anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen may be helpful. Always check with your Doctor first. (While it’s important to reduce swelling, we also want to make sure not to numb the pain rather than address it.)
Try wearing a sacroiliac back belt. (Yeah, that’s gonna happen!)

Or, do yoga and experience calm, inner peace, kindness towards self and others, and at the same time release the tension in the joint.

The class ended with a short sivasana (corpse pose, or final resting pose, for those who are new to yoga). I followed that with the closing sequence from my regular practice (since I still had two minutes to do), which includes seated forward bend, butterfly, a variation of triang mukhaikapada paschimottanasana (thanks to Iyengar for the Sanskrit), and a seated twist. With the TMP, I do the forward bend, but then lay back fully and stretch out the bent knee that way too. I swear this is essential for preventing my IT band from spazzing out when I run! I finished with another physio stretch for my knees, which involves sliding the knee caps up towards the thighs.

Once again, I felt very grateful to Yoga Outreach for the Reach Out Challenge, and to My Yoga Online for this amazing offering of teachings. Having done five of their classes now, I am noticing a bit more about how it all works. It seems many of the classes were recorded by My Yoga Online especially for the website. What tipped me off is that the lovely studio is the same, with beautiful wood floors and creamy painted radiators and arched windows (see picture). This innovative website was founded in 2005 in Vancouver, BC, by renowned yoga and wellness experts Michelle Trantina and Kreg Weiss, and business entrepreneur Jason Jacobson.

Thanks to my friends and family who have pledged 50 cents or a dollar a day for the 30-day Reach Out Challenge. If you haven’t done so and would like to sponsor me to raise money for Yoga Outreach, you can use the online donation link. Or phone me at 604.251.6337 or send an email to kyrempel@gmail.com. Thanks!

Anusara wind-down

Last night I tried my first ever Anusara-style yoga class. I love the possibilities for yoga exploration that have opened up through My Yoga Online and the Reach Out Challenge. This particular class, taught by Christine Price Clark, was a thirty-minute after work wind-down called Coming Home: Anusara Yoga.

I was confronted with my lack of flexibility, and found it difficult to stay with the breath during this class. Every pose was held for only one or two breaths, which wasn’t enough time to really relax into it. The exception was pigeon, which we went into one and a half times! I must have missed something, because after repeating the first side, it seemed the teacher had moved on to a different sequence. I had to stop the video and do the second side again when I realized it wasn’t just an extended flow, I had actually missed the boat!

It also seemed that the teacher recorded the postures and the commentary separately, which caused a slight feeling of not being in real time with the visual aspect of the teacher doing the poses. So as you can see, this was not my best class. But it is always good practice, and useful to learn more about what I like and don’t like. I did really enjoy the 8 minutes of sivasana at the end! That was always my friend Dorrie’s favourite yoga pose.

Next Monday night I am going to my first ever Bikram yoga class with some mates from work, so that will be a terrific opportunity to look like an idiot! 🙂 I’ll have to practice the 26 postures of the Bikram flow this weekend, so I can be prepared. All for a good cause, of course.

Get set for a good night’s sleep

That’s exactly what I did on Day Two of the Reach Out Challenge. I was so energized by opening blocked channels in my body from the previous two yoga sessions from My Yoga Online that I didn’t sleep well the night before. So last night I chose a class called Get Set for a Good Sleep. And the class delivered as promised!

I liked the teacher, Marla Waal. Her voice was very clear and light, but also matter of fact. The sound of her voice seemed to support me to have a very gentle practice. And this was definitely the easiest of the classes I’ve tried so far. It began with a lot of seated poses, including some great neck stretches. We did get onto our feet eventually, for some easy down dog, transitioning into a simple kneeling position rather than the typical arm-straining plank pose to the floor.

With yoga, the breath and physcial movement is one thing, and the shift in inner state is another. It is remarkable to me how the physical aspects of yoga transform the emotional, mental, and spiritual experience. At the end of the class I felt calm, quiet, and in a deeper, more present state. It was a wonderful way to end the day. Since it was a 25-minute class, I finished with 5 minutes of sivasana with a long bolster under my back and head, creating a gentle chest-opening position.

The folks at Yoga Outreach had recommended focusing on ahimsa for Day Two. Ahimsa is sometimes translated as non-harming, though they focused on the positive act of having compassion rather than the negative act of refraining from harm. So I used the attitude of having compassion towards myself in the poses, and found this increased the feeling of gentleness during the practice, including during the savasana at the end. It is a wonderful gift to deliberately treat oneself with tenderness. I recommend you try this at home!

Thanks to my friends and family who have pledged 50 cents or a dollar a day for the 30 day Reach Out Challenge. If you haven’t done so and would like to sponsor me to raise money for Yoga Outreach, you can use the online donation link. Or phone me at 604.251.6337 or send an email to kyrempel@gmail.com. Thanks!

P.S. If you have donated through Canada Helps before, the site might recognize you and behave a little differently. If you get the message that your session has timed out, click the Home link in the message. Then click on my donation link, above, again. Please let me know if you have any problems making a donation.

Sara Ivanhoe inspired me to teach yoga & quit smoking

I did the official Day One of the Reach Out Challenge yesterday, with a 27-minute class from My Yoga Online. I searched for classes by Sara Ivanhoe, and found one called Yoga on the Edge: Sunset.

Sara is the teacher who inspired me to become a yoga teacher to begin with. When I first moved to Monkey Valley, I found her Basic Yoga Workout for Dummies video at the local grocery store, and started doing it at home. The benefits I found from doing the yoga were incredible. I experienced a natural high from the ujjayi breathing, and an overall feeling of well-being from the total-body stretching and re-alignment. Having this positive experience of breathing helped me to quit smoking once and for all. Over the years I have bought the video for family members, and it forms the foundation of the classes I teach.

A few years ago I was fortunate to have the opportunity to take a live class with Sara at the Vancouver Yoga Conference. Afterwards I spoke to her and told her of the impact she had on my life. She asked where I taught, and I felt very proud to be able to tell her that I taught to youth in prison through Yoga Outreach. It was a Wow moment in my life.

Yoga on the Edge: Sunset is from another DVD that Sara has recorded. It is a gentle, flowing practice, which is the style I do most often (of course, since my regular practice comes from Sara to begin with!). I liked the flowing sequence from the wide-legged forward bend pose into triangle and warrior variations. As with the previous class I wrote about, the yoga was harder than I am used to. I have definitely gotten into a rut with my practice, and doing the challenge is exposing new parts of my body to exercise. I must say, my butt was very sore yesterday from the yin yoga class the day before! Today I am feeling the challenge in my upper back. It feels great.

Yesterday the folks at Yoga Outreach suggested that the people taking the challenge spend a few moments thinking about what motivates us to do this. What is my intention? I am finding that as I speak to people about the challenge and ask them to pledge me, I feel re-inspired by the work that Yoga Outreach does. It opens my heart to serve the people that we bring yoga to. I am also finding that my personal practice is really opening up, and my body along with it. My intention at the beginning was really just to support Yoga Outreach. But I am discovering the personal benefits are much greater than I anticipated.

P.S. I received a report of a problem with the online donation link. If anyone else has a problem, can you please let me know? Thanks. If you haven’t pledged me yet but want to, you can do so online, or phone or email me.

Get Out of Jail Free card for Reach Out Challenge

Today is the first day of the Reach Out Challenge for Yoga Outreach, and I’ve already got a Get Out of Jail Free card! I did a 30-minute yoga session last night, and will count this for one day of yoga if it so happens that during the October 10 – November 10 period I have to miss a day of doing yoga. It’s not cheating, it’s working the system.

Knowing how life brings surprises, and things rarely go exactly as planned, this seems like a good way to support my success in the month to come.

I went online last night to try out My Yoga Online, and I have to tell you, this site rocks! There are hundreds of yoga classes, in every style imaginable. You can sort the possibilities by teacher, style of yoga, length of class, level, or yoga studio. I am so excited about learning from a slew of world-class yoga teachers over the month to come.

Last night I did the Yin Yoga for Winter class. I’ve never done Yin yoga before, so it was a great learning experience. Since I was doing it right before bed, I wanted something relaxing, and this was just the ticket. It was a short series of pretty easy poses (I chose the Gentle tag), each held for a few minutes:

Child’s Pose
Sphinx – actually amazingly hard when sustained for a few minutes, with the option to transition to a more difficult arms straight version
Low Lunge
Seated Forward Bend
Cross-Legged Meditation

The class was 25 minutes, and I finished with 5 minutes of Legs Up the Wall. The teacher, Melina Meza, allows plenty of time for silent awareness, but also includes an inspiring story of the winter season and how this influences our bodies and spirit.

It was a great start to the month to come. I thank all of you who have already pledged me, and invite you to join in the challenge, even if you don’t have time to do it every day.